Report: IRS tax information hack traced to Russia

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service believes the theft of about 100,000 taxpayers’ personal data from its computer system originated in Russia, according to reports by CNN and the Associated Press. The tax agency’s criminal unit is leading an investigation into the cyber attack, in which criminals stole information through an online IRS application over the course of four months, and the Treasury Department’s inspector general and Department of Homeland Security are also looking into the breach.

These actually are organized crime syndicates that not only we but everybody in the financial industry are dealing with.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation. The information was stolen as part of a sophisticated scheme to claim fraudulent tax refunds. It was taken from an online system called “Get Transcript,” where taxpayers can get tax returns and other tax filings from previous years.

World IRS